Mike Browning

Tag: Property Valuation

  • You May “Know,” But Do You Know?

    You May “Know,” But Do You Know?

    Theoretical Knowledge vs Applied Skill

    Understanding something in theory is useful.

    But theory isn’t the same as knowing what to do.

    Most things in life have that divide. The classroom version and the real-world version. The idea and the application. Real estate is no different.

    Understanding what’s happening in the market around your land is theoretical knowledge. Sales. Listings. Prices. Buyer activity. Development pressure. All of that is information.

    Knowing what it means, and what to do with it, is applied skill.

    And like most applied skills, it’s better to develop it before you actually need it.

    Or find a trusted advisor who will be on your side when that time comes.

    Because life changes quickly. What you expect the next six months to look like today might look very different tomorrow. Health changes. Jobs change. Kids move. Opportunities appear. Problems appear.

    We all know this. We just prefer not to think about it too much because it reminds us how little control we actually have.

    Most landowners aren’t planning to sell. That’s normal. In fact that’s the default.

    Sometimes people even call me after getting one of my letters just to tell me they would never sell their land. Thank you very much. Like I asked them to sell a kidney.

    And then six months later the property is on the market.

    Sometimes listed by me.

    You don’t have to decide anything today. You may never have to make that decision. But if the day ever comes, it helps to already understand the terrain.

    Is there any downside to learning?

    P.S.- For landowners who would like to get the most current info on things affecting their land and its value, I’ve created the MBR Land Reality Check.

    It’s a professional Broker Opinion of Value based on current listings, recent sales, and what buyers are actually doing in your area. And more.

    It’s free today (tho it may not always be). And never any pressure to list.

    Get It Here

    P.P.S. If you don’t need the Reality Check today but enjoyed reading this, you can get these in your inbox whenever I publish them (usually daily).

    Sign up here.

  • The Opposite of a Car Dealer

    The Opposite of a Car Dealer

    Upfront beats clever. Every time.

    A couple of years ago I bought my daughter a car. Used car prices were so inflated it actually made more sense to buy new. Not long after that, I bought my wife a car too.

    If you’ve done this recently, you already know what comes next.

    The advertised price pulls you in.
    You get interested.
    You drive over.

    And suddenly the price is $3,000 to $5,000 higher than you expected.

    Floor mats. Window tint. Paint protection. Nitrogen in the tires. Perfectly fine products, already installed, presented as non-negotiable. Sometimes you can get them removed or avoid the cost. Sometimes you can’t.

    I usually do fine in those situations. That is not the point.

    The aggravating part is not the add-ons.

    It’s the surprise.

    When I bought my wife’s car, I asked before I ever showed up:
    What add-ons are going on this vehicle?
    What do they cost?
    What is my out-the-door number?

    That is the number you need before you step foot on the lot.

    In real estate, I operate the opposite way.

    If you are selling through me, I prepare a Seller’s Estimated Net Proceeds sheet early in the process. It is an estimate. At that stage it cannot be exact. Some costs are negotiable. Some may shift depending on the structure of the deal.

    But on the first pass, I show everything as if it is being charged to you.

    Not because that is what I want to happen.

    Because I do not want you surprised.

    When an offer comes in, I prepare a new net sheet based on that specific offer as written, or based on how we are countering it. That version is not perfect either, but it is much closer to reality.

    You see the numbers before you sign anything.

    You know what you are walking away with.

    You stay in control.

    If you do not like the deal, you do not sign it. Even if someone offers exactly what you asked for, it is still your property. Circumstances change. You can change your mind.

    I might not love it. I will not be mad.

    What I will not do is lure you in with one number and quietly move the goalposts later.

    There are enough surprises in a transaction already.

    The pricing should not be one of them.

    P.S. You may not be ready to sell today, but does it hurt to know where you stand? Request a MBR Land Reality Check below.

    No cost. No obligation. Just clarity before decisions.

    Request It Here

    PPS – If you have ever felt the “add-on” effect in a big transaction, feel free to forward this to someone who might appreciate a different approach.

    Sign Up Here

  • Most People Misunderstand the Business They’re In

    Most People Misunderstand the Business They’re In

    The NFL doesn’t make that mistake. Newspapers do.

    Yesterday I was talking about the Dallas Morning News, and how a lot of the people there don’t really know what business they’re in.

    And the people who did know what business they were in are either gone, or they know the business is dead anyway, so it doesn’t matter.

    Contrast that with the NFL.

    Their product isn’t really football. Football is the engine. It’s what pulls in the eyeballs. The real product is selling those eyeballs to network television for huge amounts of money in exchange for broadcasting the games.

    Add in corporate sponsorships, the ability to get cities to subsidize stadiums, and everything else layered on top.

    It’s a money printing machine.

    And you can be absolutely certain the people at the top know exactly what business they’re in. Unlike the newspaper people.

    They’ll talk like they’re in another business. They’ll say it’s all about winning. And it’s not that they don’t want to win.

    But it’s also not really about creating perfectly fair competition.

    If it were, teams wouldn’t play on different amounts of rest. Travel wouldn’t be wildly uneven. Schedules wouldn’t tilt the way they do.

    And the rules wouldn’t constantly change.

    But they do. All the time.

    Not to make the game more fair, but to increase viewer interest.

    That’s the business.

    Real estate isn’t that different.

    Most agents think they’re in the brokerage business. In reality, many are in the tell-the-seller-what-they-want-to-hear business, followed by the put-up-a-sign-and-hope business.

    That’s not how I operate.

    I’ll tell you what I actually think, not what I think will get me hired. Being aggressive on price can make sense, and I’m fine with that. But it still has to connect to reality.

    That’s why I think of this as the trust business.

    Things don’t always work out the way we want. Markets change. Buyers disappear. But you’ll never feel like you weren’t dealt with honestly.

    I offer a free, no-obligation analysis of non-residential property. You may not be ready to sell, and that’s fine.

    But can it really hurt to know where things actually stand?

    Almost everyone says they want the truth. Not everyone actually does.

    If you’re one of the ones who does, click below to get your free valuation report.

    Get Started Here